For more information, use the web address for any of the agencies listed below. For additional referrals and information, please contact the Women's Agricultural Network at wagn@uvm.edu.

Business Planning Assistance for Any Stage
By Deb Heleba

Business planning. All farm businesses need it but where do you go for help to learn more about business planning and/or to receive assistance in putting together a business plan?

Fortunately, in Vermont, farmers have many options. Groups like the Farm Viability Enhancement Program, Micro-Business Development Program, Small Business Development Center, Women’s Agricultural Network, Women’s Business Center, University of Vermont Extension, and the Vermont Business Center, among others all offer education (through workshops and courses) and/or technical assistance (one-on-one professional help) to help you navigate your way through planning and development of your farm business.

Navigating your way through who offers what, however, can be daunting. There seems to be an abundance of acronyms and, because these groups tend to collaborate well, sometimes it may be confusing as to who does what for whom. Therefore, the following is meant to help clarify the who’s who of business planning assistance for Vermont farmers. It is loosely organized by the stages of the business cycle, that is: Pre-Business; Start-Up ;Growth; and Maturity.

Pre-Business
The first step in business planning occurs before you even start your business. Growing Places, a course offered by the Women’s Agricultural Network since 1995, helps individuals explore the idea of starting a farm or other ag-related enterprise.

Hundreds of Vermonters have graduated from the course which is offered in both in-person and on-line formats. It introduces participants to different aspects of farm businesses, including values-based goal-setting, marketing, and financials. Participants leave the course with a more developed business idea. You can find out more about Growing Places by visiting www.uvm.edu/wagn.

There is a course, offered by the New England Small Farm Institute, that has been modeled after Growing Places. Called “Exploring Your Small Farm Dream,” the course may be offered in Windham County in the future.

Start-Up
In Vermont, an agriculturally oriented business planning class, Tilling the Soil of Opportunity has been offered annually as a joint effort of UVM Extension, WAgN, Vermont Food Venture Center, and the Vermont and the Vermont Small Business Development Center. Developed by a national organization called NxLevel, Tilling provides new and experienced farmers with the tools to develop agricultural business plans to start or grow their businesses.

Participants assess their resources, develop marketing strategies, use financials, learn how and where to get funding for their businesses, and network with other farmers. It goes a bit more in-depth than Growing Places but uses a similar format in that it pulls in guest speakers, including farmers, to provide a range of resources. For more information about Tilling, visit: www.nxlevel.org

Growth
The Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (in collaboration with the Vermont Agency of Agriculture) coordinates the Vermont Farm Viability Enhancement Program (FVE). This program provides farmers—ideally who have least three years of farm experience and $10,000 or more of gross farm income—with one-on-one business planning and technical assistance.

The program contracts with the following service providers to work with participating farmers: Intervale Center (who particularly focus on farms interested in direct marketing, value-added processing, and agritourism); the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont / NOFA-VT (who works with those farms that are either organic certified or transitioning to organic); UVM Extension (who works with any type of farm, including traditional dairy); Working Landscapes (a Massachusetts based provider that works mostly in southern Vermont and focuses on value-added, market development and farm transitions); and individual farm business consultants around the state.

FVE also uses several independent consultants to provide technical assistance tailored to a farmer’s needs to fulfill specific business goals. Basically, FVE participants receive an analysis of their farm’s strengths and weaknesses. They explore possible management changes that may help increase the farm’s profitability. The final product is a written business plan prepared by the consultants that addresses the farm’s unique needs and may include in-depth financial analysis, goal-setting, new farm enterprise analysis, estate and farm transfer planning, labor management, and/or value-added processing possibilities. For more information, visit: www.vhcb.org/viability.html.

Maturity
A new offering by the Women’s Agricultural Network, Taking Stock focuses on the issues of maturing businesses.With help from WAgN staff, farmers assess their operations, examine what is working and identify aspects that may need some fine-tuning. Topics include diversification, legal issues, labor management, and business transition planning.

Taking Stock is designed for individuals who have at least five years in business. The workshop blends two days of small-group, seminar-style learning with individual technical assistance including opportunities for one-one-one consultation. For more information visit: www.uvm.edu/wagn.

Additional Business Planning & Business Management Resources
The Vermont Small Business Development Center (SBDC) is a state-wide program that provides no cost coaching for established businesses as well as a range of educational offerings (workshops and courses) that address all stages of business development. They work with all types of small businesses, however, one provider (Steve Paddock) specifically focuses on farm businesses. The program receives partial funding from the USDA Small Business Administration. For more information visit: www.vtsbdc.org.

Micro-Business Development Program (MBDP). This is a state-wide program offered by the Vermont Community Action Agencies to low and moderate income Vermonters who want to start or expand small businesses. Their services include no or low cost one-on-one business counseling and education (including NxLevel’s business start-up course called “Business Plan Basics”). They offer their services to all types of micro-businesses, at all stages of business development. www.vtmicrobusiness.org

Vermont Women’s Business Center (VWBC). Located in Montpelier and partially funded by the USDA Small Business Administration, WBC offers all women business owners with resources, training, and networking opportunities state-wide to achieve business success. In addition to holding classes and workshops, and networking events, they have a business lending library available to participants. For more information visit: www.vwbc.org.

A state-wide organization, UVM Extension offers a variety of education and support services to Vermont farmers. Business planning assistance comes in the form of workshops and courses (like those offered by WAgN, as well as workshops on farm succession, marketing, and financials) and through consultations to farmers from farm business management specialists and other staff. For more information, visit: uvm.edu/extension.

Vermont Business Center (VBC). The Center, located at the University of Vermont’s School of Business Administration, addresses the needs of growing businesses in the state. They offer a series of management seminars and other training opportunities. VBC is also home to the Vermont Family Business Initiative (VFBI), a membership program that provides training and a support network to family-owned businesses in the state. www.uvm.edu/vbc.

Peer-to-Peer Collaborative. The collaborative is coordinated by the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund and offers assistance to Vermont businesses in the growth stage who have sales within $1 to $15 million. For a fee, the project provides CEOs with support from peer advisor to help identify and address issues that typically arise when business reach significant growth. Visit www.vsjf.org.

The Vermont Employee Ownership Center (VEOC) is a statewide non-profit, located in Burlington, that helps Vermont businesses that are interested in fostering employee ownership. VEOC has worked with a few farm businesses on collaborative ownership structures like worker-owner cooperatives. It holds an annual conference as well as offer consultation with business owners. Visit www.veoc.org.

In addition to these programs, there are lots of fact sheets, guides, checklists, and websites out there on business planning. Some are general in nature, like the Vermont Department of Economic Development’s thinkvermont.com website, and some are very specific like the online Legal Guide to the Business of Farming in Vermont at uvm.edu/farmtransfer/legalguide.html.

In sum, there many different ways to get business planning assistance. The first step is to check out a website or give a call.

WAgN
Women's Agricultural Network
617 Comstock Road, Suite 5
Berlin, VT  05602
(802) 223-2389 x13
866-860-1382 (tollfree)
or wagn@zoo.uvm.edu

University of Vermont Extension and U.S. Department of Agriculture, cooperating, offer education and employment to everyone without regard to race, color, notional orgin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or familial status.